Executive summary

Concerns in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) area with respect to the environmental impacts of acidifying species have resulted in a series of international agreements to reduce emissions of such species. Most recently, these have culminated in the targets established under the Gothenburg Protocol. The Gothenburg targets have also been introduced into EU legislation through the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive.

The European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) network, established in the 1970s under the UNECE, provides the structure for development of scientific understanding of emissions and their impacts. EMEP also acts as the co-ordinating body for measurements of ambient levels of key pollutants across Europe.

Since the 1980s, considerable progress has been reported in Europe and nationally on reductions of sulphur species. These emissions reductions have resulted in reduced ambient sulphur dioxide and sulphate levels over Ireland.